A HALF HOUR LATER, André pulled in to a private airport and drove up to the plane we’d flown to Mexico on. Pulling some rags from between the front seats, he handed one to me and one to Talon. “Wipe everything down, leave the rifles. One of my men will be here to take care of the vehicle tomorrow.”
Angel silently looked from the jet to me to both Luna and Talon wiping down the doors and the dash.
I wiped my side and the rifle, then opened the door to a blast of heat, both from the plane’s engines already on and the Texas heat, which was no different than Mexico. “Wait there,” I instructed, before walking to her side of the vehicle.
Helping her get down from the seat, I quickly wiped down anywhere she may have touched, then I pocketed the rag and scooped her up.
Roark opened the plane’s door as I approached the steps.
He nodded once. “Anders.”
Nodding back, I walked up the stairs with Emily in my arms. Feeling possessive, I did not introduce her.
Roark stepped back. “Sorry we couldn’t wait for you in Altamira.”
It was not his fault. “It worked out.”
Roark took in Emily’s appearance and indicated her bag on a seat. “Her things are there, shower will be available after takeoff, and medical supplies were restocked. Drinks and snacks are in the galley. Need anything else?”
“No, thank you.” I set Emily in a seat next to her things as Luna and Talon came on board. Andre quietly took a seat while Talon joined Roark in the cockpit.
“That’s my bag.” She looked up at me with surprise. “You brought me stuff from my apartment?”
“Yes.” I sat next to her. “Your sister put together some clothes for you.”
“Oh my God.” She reached for the bag and unzipped it. “And there’s a shower on the plane?”
“Yes.” Something I never would have imagined existed growing up.
As she searched her bag, her face fell.
“What is wrong?”
“Nothing.” She looked over her shoulder toward the rear of the plane with longing.
“After takeoff you may use the facilities.” Tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, I studied her expression. “Why did you get upset when you looked in the bag?”
She sighed as the engines grew louder. “Nothing. I’m being stupid.”
“Nothing you feel is stupid.”
She stared at me a moment, then shook her head. “I’m being ungrateful is all.”
Roark let us know he was taxiing and to buckle our seat belts. A few minutes later, we were in the air and she’d glanced at the bathroom twice.
I unbuckled her seat belt. “Go. Do you need help?”
She shook her head.
“Be careful with your cuts. I will get you something to drink.”
She barely nodded before she was rushing toward the bathroom with her bag. I was glad to see no limp in her step.
Luna glanced at me as I headed to the small built-in kitchen. “She okay?”
“She will be.” Time would put distance between her and the events of the past thirty-six hours.
“Pretty girl.” He paused. “She really your sister?”
He had already asked this of me. “What do you really want to know?”
He sighed heavily. “Just wondering if this is gonna stick.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Can’t blame me for wanting you to find someone else.”
“Decima was never mine.”
He chuckled without humor. “You ever gonna use her new name?”
Doubtful. “I have no reason to converse with her.”
“Good. Then this’ll make what I have to say a lot easier.” He looked at me with complete sincerity. “You handled yourself well out there. Better than some Marines with years of training.”
I did not see that as a compliment. I was not handling myself. “I did what needed to be done.”
He inhaled as if resigned. “You should come work for me.”
I was not surprised by the offer. I knew how to hunt. I had spent my entire life honing that skill, and part of Luna’s business, when he was not protecting people, was to find them. Hunting people was not much different than hunting animals. I understood his offer, but I did not understand why he would want me to work for him. I was not a charity case. He should know that a man who could afford a hundred-thousand-dollar private jet rental did not need money.
I kept my response simple. “I do not need money.”
“I’m not saying you do,” he countered. “I’m saying I could use someone with your skill set.”
“No thank you.” I reached for the red can of soda I knew she preferred and offered an exchange of goodwill. “However, I will return the favor of help if you ever need it.”
“Understood.” He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. “You gonna ask about her?”
I put ice in a cup, but I did not say anything. It was a question that did not need to be asked.
“You really over her?”
“I was never under her,” I replied frankly.
His laugh was loud but also not without anger. “Jesucristo.” He stood and grabbed a water bottle from the small built-in refrigerator. “You are one blunt motherfucker.”
“And you are not.”
He opened his water, but he did not deny my observation. “In my business, it pays to be diplomatic.”
“You could not pay me to lie.” I would find another occupation if needed.
Luna eyed me as he took a sip of his water. “Maybe not, but you still got around the truth with that border patrol agent. Some consider omission the same thing as lying.”
I took into consideration what he said. “I am not saying I am without fault. I have lied.”
Luna held a hand up. “I’m not judging, just stating facts.”
“And I am not defending my actions. I am merely saying I would not prefer to do what you do if it meant I needed to be diplomatic.” I knew the definition of the word, and I inferred his meaning to be tactful. “I have no desire to spend my days dancing around interpretations of terminology.”
Luna laughed. “That’s because you don’t talk. I’ve spent two days with you and this is the most you’ve spoken.” He finished his water. “Not saying there’s anything wrong with that though.” He slapped me on the shoulder and disposed of his water bottle. “I hate wasted breath myself.”
Then it was good he was with Decima. I merely nodded and took a water for myself and a package of nuts for Emily and returned to my seat with her soda.
Andre glanced toward the rear of the plane. “You gonna marry that girl?”
After all the favors he had done for me, I fought to keep from telling him to mind his own business.
As if sensing my irritation, he smiled. “Just saying the ladies usually want a ring and a commitment.” He eyed me. “If you’re serious.”
I lost my refrain. “Tend to your own matters.”
He did not let it go. “This isn’t about insulting each other. I’m just saying it’s a different life out in the world than what you came from.”
“Do not mistake my candor for insults.” I knew life on the compound had not been typical. I knew it the first time I was permitted to leave to fill a gas tank. Fifteen turns around the sun, no life experiences outside of hunting, and I still had understood immediately how different River Ranch was.
He eyed me for a moment. “Just helping a brother out, man. That’s all.”
“I am not your brother.”
“Yeah,” he said tiredly. “I get that. Doesn’t mean disrespect. Just something we call the men in the trenches next to us in the military.” He held my gaze. “I’m just saying, you got my back, I’ve got yours.”
I nodded once because I understood. I did not serve in the military, but I had lived through another war. One I was still living until a gas station angel had smiled at me.
An angel who had just come out of the restroom with wet hair, a bruised face and exhaustion in her eyes.
I stood and took the bag from her hand, then I pulled her into my arms.
My eyes closed, and I allowed myself the indulgence of emotions. Not knowing if I would ever hold her in my arms again was a feeling I never wanted to repeat. Relishing in the comfort of her soft curves against my body, I simply held her.
“Hi,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around my waist.
I kissed the top of her head. “I am grateful you are safe.”
“I’m grateful for you.”
Ignoring the sentiment that made me uncomfortable, I took her chin in my hand and inspected her face. She had obviously been hit. “Are you okay?”
No walls hiding her feelings, she looked up at me with warm eyes. “I’m fine.”
“Your back, your ribs?” I had seen the bruising behind the cargo container.
“I’ll be fine, thanks to you.”
Inhaling, I forced my tone to be even. “You are done thanking me.”
She smiled shyly. “I will never be done doing that.”
I gave her the hard truth. “I will not be with a woman who is only with me because she feels indebted.”
Her smile faded to a grave seriousness. “I would never be with a man I felt indebted to.”
Seeing the truth in her eyes, hearing it in her voice, I took her at her word and let the thank-you comment go. “Come, sit.” I released her chin only to hold her arm. I had never had the need to hold on to a woman before, but this woman, I never wanted to release my hold on her.
She saw the soda and a smile lit up her face. “You remembered.”
“I would not forget.”
She sat and took the drink, sipping it at first. “No, I don’t suppose you would.”
I took the seat next to her, sparing a glance in Luna’s direction to see if he was watching us, but he had turned toward the window and had his phone to his ear. “I do not know what you mean by that.”
Stalling, she drank the rest of the soda in the glass then poured the remains from the can into the glass. “It simply means that you strike me as someone who pays attention to things that are important to him.”
I paid attention to more than just things that were important. Like how the shirt she wore, slightly oversized with a low neckline and decorations sewn into the cut, or the tight, stretchy black pants I had observed women off the compound wear, did not look like her usual attire of the more casual clothes she wore the first two times I met her. But observation was safer than words, so I did not comment on her reflection. Instead, I pushed the nuts toward her. “Eat.”
“You should eat.”
I had had food since she’d been taken. I was presuming she had not. “I am fine.” I could wait.
Her nose wrinkled. “To be honest, I’m not a fan of nuts.” She pushed the package back toward me. “But thank you.” She sipped her drink.
Wordlessly, I got up and looked in the small refrigerator. On the shelf under the sodas and juices were sandwiches wrapped in clear plastic like at the gas station, but fresher looking. I took two, sat back down next to her and held one out. “Better?”
She glanced hungrily at the food, but then looked up at me with something close to need. “Are you going to eat with me?”
Having eaten alone for the past six months, I understood instantly. “Yes.” I vowed then and there to never let her eat alone. Not while she was with me.
We both tore open the plastic wrappers and took hearty bites.